We heart LFW
london fashion week,burberry prorsum,Autumn winter 2010
london fashion week montage
They think it\'s all over. It is now. And thank heavens for that, cry our aching feet. As we rediscover our desks and try to come to terms with not having Champagne with breakfast the chatter is, of course, about why we love London Fashion Week. The clothes! The shoes! The models! The parties! Well, yes. But what exactly did the autumn/winter 2010 season in London have that we\'ll still be chattering excitedly about over dinner thirty years from now? From live streaming to a barnstorming performance at Burberry - via Christopher Biggins making his front row debut - we think we\'ve just about got the mood nailed. Read on...
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Go backstage at Topshop Unique with our exclusive video
Olivia Palermo
london fashion week,Olivia Palermo,Autumn winter 2010
olivia palermo
Most Tireless Fashion Trouper Award of the week has to go to Olivia Palermo: socialite, pseudo-accessories editor, star of The City and the new face in town with which we\'ve become most familiar over the past 120 hours. She was in London ostensibly to fulfil obligations as the new spokeswoman of Matches\' Freda line, but didn\'t let that stop her hitting up every party and front row (with the exception of the Burberry show, where she was - shhhh, don\'t tell anyone! - seated quietly in the second) within a 25 mile radius. Oddly bird-like in the flesh, we really do dig her style, but couldn\'t help wanting to pin her down and force-feed her a few calorific goodies from the Topshop ice-cream van.
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Picture: Olivia Palermo at the Topshop Unique show.
Our car and Mike, its driver
london fashion week,Autumn winter 2010,land rover,mike
mike the driver
Let us get something straight: the only way to do Fashion Week is with a dedicated car and driver. Particularly when the weather is as unpredictable and pissy as it was this time round. Thanks to our partnership with Land Rover this season, the handbag.com fashion team was furnished with a big, bad set of wheels and the most awesomest driver imaginable, Mike, to chauffer us from show to appointment to office and back again. Who knew that one could \'do\' Fashion Week without having to endure the shame of changing from flats to heels in full public view? Without missing the bus, and having to half-run, half-limp to the show venue, only to find that the show has started and you\'re forced to stand at the back like a naughty school kid? Plus, Mike\'s typically bloke-ish take on the bizarre rituals of the fash pack during the shows was simply priceless. We\'ve broken through to the other side. There can be no going back. Mike, we miss you already!
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Picture: Mike, our Land Rover and a whole lotta love.
The Orangery at Kensington Palace
Mulberry,london fashion week,Autumn winter 2010
mulberry autumn winter 2010
Our fave new Fashion Week hangout is fit for a queen - quite literally. Nothing quite beats telling your driver that you\'re off to a party at the palace, even if the fact that you\'re wearing jeans softens the impact somewhat. Thanks to Mulberry, our eyes have been opened to the fabulousness of The Orangery at Kensington Palace. More than a glorified greenhouse, the all-glass-plus-marquee structure provided an elegant back-drop for the label\'s ladylike catwalk presentation - which was inspired by \"an eclectic mix of Valley Of The Dolls, naughty English royalty, Hollywood theatricals and over-the-top animal prints\" and accompanied by a Jungle Book mash-up for a soundtrack - and morphed into the perfect party space when darkness fell. Mulberry, you had us at the super-sized, purple, glitter-covered panther at the entrance. Please do that again next season.
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Picture: Models parade during the finale of Mulberry\'s autumn/winter 2010 catwalk presentation.
Random front row spots
Jaeger,Nicole Farhi,london fashion week,julien macdonald,amanda wakeley,Autumn winter 2010,christopher biggins
christopher biggins at amanda wakeley
Among the notables on this year\'s front rows were the usual fashionista suspects - Nicola Roberts, Peaches Geldof, Paloma Faith, Christopher Biggins... hold up! Autumn/winter 2010 in London was the season of the random front rower. And if you think we\'re pulling your leg, trust us, we promise that even at our most creative, we couldn\'t have made this lot up. In no particular order, the very weirdest were: Biggins at Amanda Wakeley; Pete Tong and Alan Carr at Julien Macdonald; Bill Nighy at Nicole Farhi; and X-Factor winner Joe McElderry at Jaeger - with his mum. The only way this could ever be topped would be if the trend were to be reversed. Just imagine it. Anna Wintour does X-Factor. Victoria Beckham plays Widow Twanky in pantomime. Ah-mazing.
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Picture: Entertainer Christopher Biggins camps it up for the camera as he takes his front row seat at the Amanda Wakeley show.
Enter Hakaan
Kate Moss,Carine Roitfeld,natalia vodianova,london fashion week,Autumn winter 2010,hakaan
natalia vodianova at hakaan
Hakaan flew well under our radar in the usual pre-shows kerfuffle of organisation, aside from us noting that there was a newcomer on the schedule and its origins were a mystery. Error. What with it being the only show that Kate Moss attended, the only one that super-duper-model Natalia Vodianova walked for in the capital and only one of two that Carine Roitfeld flew in to see, we can hereby pronounce it one of the most impressive debuts in memory - taking into account the razor-sharp, structural collection itself too, of course. Here\'s the official blurb: \"Hakaan makes his way into the fashion world after being awarded with the first prize at the Young Fashion Designers Contest organised by the Istanbul Textile And Apparel Exporter Associations while he was still studying fashion design at university. He succeeded in attracting everybody\'s attention with his fashion show. Rifat Ozbek, who was a spectator of Yildirim\'s show was really impressed and praised Yildirim\'s work, saying: \"A new star is born.\" Quite.
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Picture: Natalia Vodianova on the Hakaan autumn/winter 2010 catwalk.
Burberry Prorsum (yes, again)
kate Hudson,Mary-Kate Olsen,Burberry,london fashion week,kristen stewart,Autumn winter 2010
mary kate olsen and kate Hudson
When Burberry triumphantly returned to LFW as part of the British Fashion Council\'s 25-year anniversary celebrations of the event in September, it was the hottest show ticket in town. Fast forward five months and things haven\'t changed one iota. Arriving for the show at Chelsea College of Art and Design in the rain, guests were instructed to put down their umbrellas - only to be assigned their own usher, who escorted them into the building holding a Burberry-branded brolly over their perfectly-coiffed heads instead. Now that\'s class. From the front row (which sported too many A-list names to mention, but we\'ll try: Kate Hudson, Kristen Stewart, the Olsens, Alice In Wonderland star Mia Wasikowska, Claire Danes) to the tummy-flippingly beautiful collection of shearling jackets, spike-heeled biker booties and ruched tunics on the catwalk, Burberry are simply at the top of their game. Long may it continue.
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Picture: Mary-Kate Olsen and Kate Hudson wait for the Burberry Prorsum show to start.
Grungulousness
ann-sofie back,london fashion week,marios schwab,amanda wakeley,Autumn winter 2010
mary katrantzou autumn winter 2010
That is, of course, grunge gone fabulous. Hair and make-up-wise there was, as ever, a veritable smorgasbord of styles on offer on the catwalks, but one of the most prevalent was the bed head - not in its greasy, four-days-since-the-last-wash incarnation as us mere mortals know it, but in a done-but-slightly-undone way. Capiche? The look is one that\'s done, then undone a little to make it more human, more natural or, if you will, more naif. So, at Amanda Wakeley, hair was left loose and primped to perfection, then mussed slightly to give it a softer, whimsical edge. At Hakaan, David Koma and Mary Katrantzou there was a flawless face of make-up - minus the mascara. It even extends into the clothes. By all means wear a ballgown but, to stay on trend, just be sure it\'s a bit slashed up, à la Marios Schwab or Ann-Sofie Back.
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Picture: Grungulousness on Mary Katrantzou\'s autumn/winter 2010 catwalk.
Battle of the bulldogs
Mulberry,london fashion week,patrick cox,Autumn winter 2010,bulldog
fashion bulldogs
We\'d already prepared ourselves for the cuteness at Mulberry\'s autumn/winter 2010 presentation - the label is fast becoming renowned for a \'dog-on-the-catwalk-alert!\' moment - but who would\'ve thought that a four-legged chubster, belonging to shoe designer Patrick Cox, might threaten to steal the starlets\' thunder at Burberry? Not us. Apparently, the bulldog is the canine companion to be spotted with this season. At Mulberry, the wee darling was French, while fittingly, Cox\'s was British. Woof.
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Picture: left, French bulldog at Mulberry; right, Patrick Cox\'s British bulldog.
Menswear day
london fashion week,Autumn winter 2010,david gandy
david gandy
Menswear isn\'t in our remit. But this season, Menswear Day at LFW was responsible for bringing the Adonis that is David Gandy out to play in the capital, along with a whole tribe of steely-eyed, chisel-jawed male specimens. And for that, we give thanks.
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Picture: David Gandy attends the Love Ball, hosted by Natalia Vodianova and Harper\'s Bazaar during London Fashion Week.
Shows for all!
Jaeger,london fashion week,Autumn winter 2010
jaeger autumn winter 2010
This season will go down in history as the one where LFW got truly democratic and live streaming went, well, mainstream. Designers have been toying with the idea of streaming for a while now, with a few even opting to dabble in it (Twenty8Twelve, Burberry Prorsum and Alexander McQueen all spring to mind) but the concept went official for autumn/winter 2010, with the British Fashion Council\'s decision to make live streaming an option for all the shows held at the official Somerset House show space - and beyond. Burberry went one better and made theirs available in 3D. While we have the honour of being catwalk-side as the action\'s happening, we remember a time before FashionTV - hell, even before the internet - when the idea of being able to see such a thing unfold would\'ve seemed truly miraculous. Is this the future of fashion? Watch this (web) space.
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Picture: Jaeger\'s autumn/winter 2010 show, which was streamed live via the official London Fashion Week website.
